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Val Venis
He debuted on the May 18, 1998 edition of Raw is War, defeating Scorpio. Almost immediately, he was involved in an angle with the Kaientai stable, involving him having an affair with Yamaguchi-San's kayfabe wife, Shian-Li Tsang. As a result, the members of Kaientai had a series of unsuccessful matches against him. Venis made his pay-per-view debut at Fully Loaded: In Your House, defeating Jeff Jarrett. On the August 3 edition of Raw is War, his tag team partner Taka Michinoku would eventually betray him, which led to him and Kaientai tying Venis up backstage where Yamaguchi-San attempted to castrate him with a sword. The next week, however, he reported that he was saved by "a little shrinkage" and help from his friend, John Wayne Bobbitt. He then challenged the four Japanese wrestlers to a match, which they accepted under the conditions that it must be a gauntlet match, meaning that Venis would have to fight all four of them individually in one match. The match ended with Michinoku executing the Michinoku Driver on Venis and getting the three-count, ending his undefeated streak. The feud ended a week later, after Venis fought Michinoku to a no contest. After feuding with Kaientai, Venis got his first title shot in the WWF at SummerSlam 1998 against European Champion D'Lo Brown for his championship. Venis was disqualified and as a result, Brown retained the title. Venis got involved in a storyline where he slept with other people's wives. He started a feud with Goldust, on the September 14 edition of Raw is War when Venis slept in bed with his wife, Terri Runnels. She then became his on-screen girlfriend. This culminated in a match at Breakdown: In Your House, which Venis won. On the October 12 edition of Raw is War, Venis participated in a tournament for the Intercontinental Championship, defeating Marc Mero in the first round before losing in the semifinals to Ken Shamrock. Venis continued his feud with Goldust, with Goldust gaining a victory at Judgment Day: In Your House. The two faced each other again at Capital Carnage, and Val went on to win the match, to end the feud. When Terri said she was pregnant, Val dumped her. At the end of the year, he formed a short lived tag team with The Godfather, unofficially dubbed "Supply and Demand". They began teaming on the December 7 edition of Raw is War against The Acolytes. Their team only lasted a week, including a match against Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown at Rock Bottom: In Your House, and a match against the Brood. On the February 1, 1999 edition of Raw is War, he started a feud with Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock. At St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, Venis defeated Shamrock with the help of special guest referee Billy Gunn to win the Intercontinental Championship. The next night on Raw is War, Venis defended the title against Gunn and retained the title. He eventually lost the Intercontinental Title to Road Dogg after only a one month reign as champion. Venis began a feud with Road Dogg and made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania XV, where he challenged for the Intercontinental title in a Four Corners Elimination match which also included Ken Shamrock and Goldust. Venis failed to win the match. Throughout the rest of the year, he found himself having "woman troubles" with Nicole Bass, Chyna, and Debra. Venis reunited with the Godfather and they began challenging for the Tag Team titles. On the July 12 edition of Raw is War, they faced the Hardy Boyz for the titles, but the Hardy Boyz retained the titles by getting disqualified. Venis and the Godfather started a feud with Droz and Albert. The next week on Raw is War, Venis and Godfather, Droz and Albert, and the Acolytes challenged the Hardys to a fatal four way elimination tag team match for the titles, where the Hardys went on to retain the titles. He started a feud with Steve Blackman and defeated him at Unforgiven. His next feud was with Mark Henry, whom he beat at Rebellion. He engaged in feuds with several main eventers including The Rock, Mankind, and Steve Austin. In late 1999, Venis started a feud with European Champion The British Bulldog over the title. At Survivor Series, Venis teamed up with Mark Henry, Gangrel, and Steve Blackman to face the British Bulldog and the Mean Street Posse with his team winning the match. At Armageddon (1999), Venis pinned the British Bulldog in a triple threat match with D-Lo Brown to win the WWF European Championship. On the February 10, 2000 episode of SmackDown!, he dropped the European Title to Kurt Angle, ending his two-month reign. Around this time, Venis largely disappeared from WWF television programming until mid-May, due to a legitimate neck injury which limited his mobility. At King of the Ring, he participated in the King of the Ring tournament where he was defeated by Rikishi in the semi-finals. This culminated in a feud between Venis and Rikishi which led to Venis turning heel by aligning himself with Trish Stratus. With Stratus as his manager, and a new look - including a haircut, white boots and trunks - and the near total disposal of his older gimmick, he defeated Rikishi to win his second Intercontinental Championship, and aligned himself with Test and Albert. They continued their rivalry as Venis defended the title in a rematch at Fully Loaded. During the match, Venis was put over by taking a splash from Rikishi from the top of a 15-foot high steel cage and still going on to defeat Rikishi later in the match to retain the title. Val's manager, Stratus, inadvertently lost Venis' Intercontinental title to Chyna in a mixed tag team match involving the pair against the team of Chyna and Eddie Guerrero at SummerSlam 2000. Shortly after, Venis underwent a complete change in persona and became a member of the Right to Censor (RTC) stable. Venis joined RTC after being kayfabe abducted by Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather. He became a censorship-based character, directly contrasting with his previously provocative on-screen character. Right To Censor feuded with the Acolytes and the Dudley Boyz, culminating in an eight-man tag team match at Unforgiven 2000, which RTC won. At No Mercy, Venis teamed up with Steven Richards to face Chyna and Billy Gunn. After interference from Eddie Guerrero, RTC picked up the win. Venis started a feud with Chyna, culminating in a match at Armageddon which Venis won. At WrestleMania X-Seven, RTC faced Tazz and the APA in a six man tag match which RTC lost. The next night on Raw is War, he faced the champion Kane for the Hardcore Championship but lost the match. Venis stayed in RTC until they disbanded right before the Invasion storyline, feuding with Chyna and "The One" Billy Gunn during his tenure with the group. When RTC broke up and the Invasion began, Venis disappeared from WWF television while recovering from surgery on his hip to remove bone spurs. After recovering, he was kept off television along with several other wrestlers, for whom WWE bookers could not come up with any storylines. Venis returned to action back in his old gimmick, at the 2002 Royal Rumble, where he entered at #20 in the Royal Rumble match but was shortly after eliminated by Stone Cold. On Raw he had two very short feuds with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. Perfect before being drafted to SmackDown! during the brand extension. On SmackDown!, he began calling himself "The Big Valbowski" and he aligned himself with babyfaces Edge, Randy Orton, Billy Kidman, and Hardcore Holly and feuded with Chris Jericho, Deacon Batista, and Reverend D-Von. He was soon sidelined, however, after a legitimate injury caused by gym equipment falling on him at a gym in Canada during late July 2002. After his accident, he was removed from television until doctors cleared him to return to in-ring action. He returned to working SmackDown! dark matches in September 2002 and made one last televised appearance as Venis on October 26, 2002 at Rebellion, where he returned to team with Chuck Palumbo in a losing effort against Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons. He returned to television on the November 18 edition on Raw under his real name, Sean Morley. He was appointed "Chief of Staff" by Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff, turning heel once again by acting as Bischoff's assistant and going by Chief Morley. Morley began a feud with the Dudley Boyz in March 2003. On the March 24, 2003 edition of Raw, he officially became one half of the World Tag Team Champions with Lance Storm after Storm's partner, William Regal, was sidelined with an illness. Storm and Morley successfully defended the World Tag Team Titles on an edition of Heat prior to WrestleMania XIX against Rob Van Dam and Kane with help from the Dudley Boyz, only to lose them to Kane and RVD the next night. Morley was "fired" from his assistant job by Bischoff after he lost a match to Jerry "The King" Lawler in which Jim Ross' job was on the line. He was quickly "rehired" by co-General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin. After returning as Val Venis, he participated in a battle royal at Judgment Day 2003 for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, won by Christian. Throughout mid-2003, 2004, and the first half of 2005, Venis became a face again, but did not get much in the way of a push. Venis began wrestling as a mid-carder on Heat and on a September 2003 edition of Heat, he faced Intercontinental Champion Christian in another match for the Intercontinental Title, which Christian won. He reformed his previous tag team with Lance Storm as faces, but the partnership faded and Venis became utilized mainly as a "jobber to the stars". He notably defeated CM Punk in Punk's first tryout match in the WWE on May 9, 2005. In the summer of 2005 he formed another team, V-Squared, with Viscera. While wrestling on Heat, they squashed a number of other tag teams including the World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a non-title match. On the December 5 edition of Raw, V-Squared participated in a fatal four way match for the World Tag Team Championship, including the champions Big Show and Kane, The Heart Throbs, and Snitsky and Tyson Tomko but were defeated. Venis and Viscera continued to team in 2006, getting another shot at Big Show and Kane's titles, while occasionally having solo matches. In March 2006, Venis suffered a kayfabe injury at the hands of the Spirit Squad which allowed him to take time off for legitimate elbow surgery. While he was out, Viscera began teaming with Charlie Haas, leaving Venis to team with Snitsky upon his return in a team that didn't last long. Venis began a feud with Eugene on Heat when Eugene interrupted and attacked him during a "Kiss Cam" segment on December 4. On the following edition of Heat, Venis and Eugene had a match which Eugene won. On the December 18 edition of Raw, Val participated in a #1 contender's battle royal, won by Edge. On the March 19, 2007 edition of Raw, he participated in a Money in the Bank qualifying battle royal, won by Edge. In late 2007, he began a feud with Santino Marella. During the feud, Marella gave Venis a sneak attack, causing him an injury. The two had a match on the October 15 edition of Raw, which Marella won. On the February 18, 2008 edition of Raw, he lost to Mr. Kennedy in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. On the March 25 edition of ECW on Sci Fi, he participated in a twelve-on-twelve tag team match involving all the participants of the battle royal. At WrestleMania XXIV, he participated in a pre-show number one contender's battle royal, with the winner facing ECW World Heavyweight Champion Chavo Guerrero later that night. Kane went on to win the battle royal. Venis spent the rest of 2008 out of action due to an injury. On January 9, 2009, Venis was released from his WWE contract after over a decade of working for the company. Category:WWE European Champions Category:Intercontinental Champions Category:World Tag Team Champions Category:Current Alumni Category:Canadian wrestlers Category:Male professional wrestlers Category:WWE Superstar